The Crucifixion of Belgium. 



<S»fr ®f the President^ 



An address on 

Germanys' Deportation of the Innocent 
People of Belgium and Northern France. 

by 

Major Louis Livingston Seaman, U. S. V. 
at 

The Church of St. John the Evangilist, 
Protestant Episcopal. 

and 

Resolutions unanimously adopted hy the Congregation. 
Rev. John A. Wade, Rector 
Sunday, December 10th, 1916. 



The Crucifixion of Belgium. 



The wholesale deportation by Germany of the innocent people 
of Belgium constitutes a state of international lawlessness unsur- 
passed since the abolition of the piratical slave raids in the 
jungles of Africa. It may justly be placed on a par with that 
practice, when we consider the teachings of the high priests of 
Germany, Treitschke, Nietzsche and Bernhardi, whose philosophy 
has instilled into the hearts of the nation the belief that war is 
legitmate, and good business. In the estimation of many think- 
ing people, the present tragedy of Europe is the most logical war 
in history; for it is simply carrying out the doctrine instilled into 
the people of Germany for the last half century — a doctrine that 
justifies the commission of all kinds of brutality, in order to ac- 
complish its end. 

Nations in their development from barbarism to civilization, 
have established laws and courts, where murder, assassination, ar- 
son, rape, robbery and other crimes are summarily dealt with: — 
but with the sacreligious and blasphemous self-styled represent- 
ative of the Almighty, who now rules Germany, these laws are 
trampled under foot as having no significance. ''German atroci- 
ties, ruthless murders and bitter wrongs against humanity have 
transformed her into a monster. So that the present war is not a 
war between nations, but a death struggle between civilization and 
barbarism, between men and beasts. 

I have just returned from France where I found her people 
thinking of the atrocities and the crimes and horrors of the Ger- 
man invasion. France is fighting, "not a nation, but an idea — the 
idea of militarism and beastiality and brutality, expressed in the 
action of the Germans." 

I recently visited Belgium, whose civilians in the conquered 
parts of the country, are being separated from their families and 
deported into slavery in Germany, and yet, scarcely a word of 
protest has been made by our safety first and honor last executive 
against these monstrous acts of inhumanity. 

The German slave-driver, Gen. von Bissing, is carrying out 
the policy of his Ruler, sending hundreds of thousands of Belgium 
civilians from their homes and their families and forcing them into 
exile and slavery in Germany. Cardinal Mercier states that 
soldiers enter homes by force, tearing youth from parent, hus- 
band from wife, father from children. They bar with the bayonet 
the door through which wives and mothers wish to pass to say fare- 
well to those departing. They herd their captives in groups of 

• * S i, a ?i tw ^ ties and push them int0 cars - A s soon as the train 
is filled the Officer in charge waves the signal for departure. Thus 
thousands of Belgians are reduced to slavery. Each deported 
workman on arrival in Germany, releases a soldier for the German 
army. 

xt .. 0ne Jl e 3 t r * ason the war continues is the fact that "the 
Nations fighting Germany do not think primarily of Germany as 
a nation but they regard Germans as a tribe, which practices the 
abominations which have made the fate of Belgium, a world-wide 
u Peace i ; s i 10 ™ a * er > notwithstanding the oceans of blood 
that has been shed and the millions that have suffered, because 



no peace under these conditions is possible. Such practices must 
perish or civilization must perish. There can b ?n peace whUe 
r ? maiI l S ^ exponent of Principles that means the de- 
struction of civilization as exemplified by her treatment and tor- 
ture of Belgium today. 

The unlawful brutalities of Germany, however, need cause no 
surprise to those who are familiar with its military history for the 
last fifty years. Some of you may recall the statement Bismarck 
made to his troops when they left Berlin for their conquest of 
France, m 1870 In an address to them before their departure he 
said, Leave to the peoples who you conquer, naught but their eves 
with which to see, and to weep," and that is the policy they are now 
enacting m Belgium. 

The German nation regards with great pride the so-called 
ceremonial of the baptism of fire for its army. 

There have been but two occasions between the War of 1870 
and the present one, in which the German troops have experienced 
this ceremony, and it was my fortune, or misfortune, to be pres- 
ent on both these occasions. 

One was in 1900, in the so-called Boxer War, when the allied 
armies of the world crucified Christianity in China, in their mon- 
strous treatment of the Chinese, who, in their misguided judgment 
were merely trying to save their country from vivisection by the 
vultures of Europe. 

In an address which the Emperor of Germany delivered to his 
troops on their departure for that expedition, he told them to"be- 
have like Huns," and their record of murder and devastation in 
that country has left a blot on their escutcheon which will never be 
erased. Their army arrived in Pekin several months after the 
so-called war was over, but they at once began a system of puni- 
tive expeditions on the helpless Chinese, among whom there was 
no more fight than in a warren of rabbits, and continued it for 
months, committing crimes of murder, rape and looting that would 
shame the record of Attila. 

The other occasion occurred in German Africa, when I also 
chanced to be present. The Hereros, one of the finest native tribes 
of that country, had protested against the monstrous hut tax which 
the Colonial Government had imposed upon them. That Govern- 
ment had robbed them of their land and prevented them shooting 
the game. It had restricted them from all the privileges they 
had enjoyed for immemorial ages, and imposed upon them a tax so 
large that it required the wage of half a year's work in the cotton 
fields, or in the making of the roads, for which they received about 
a penny a day, to accumulate enough to pay the tax. 

The natives protested against this payment and other cruel- 
ties and restrictions, and attempted to create a rebellion. On 
learning this, the German authorities promptly arrested all the 
leading men of the tribe, the Chiefs, the medicine men, the priests 
and the heads of families of the section of the tribe where this 
massacre occurred, and held them awaiting the arrival of the 
Colonial Governor. He was a fellow passenger with me, on a 
steamer running down the African Coast, and when we reached 
the place at about eight o'clock in the morning, the situation was 
immediately placed before him. In less than an hour, two hundred 
and eight of these representative natives, the most influential and 



powerful of the tribe, were brought from the prison and hung to 
the limbs of the mango trees in the village. The priests and medi- 
cine men had told the natives that they need not fear the ettect ot 
the German guns, as they shot only water. To prove that this was 
not true and to instill terror among the remaining inhabitants, tne 
wives, the children and the parents of the condemned men— in- 
deed, all the inhabitants of the village,— were invited down to tne 
mango trees where their husbands and fathers had been hung, and 
a detachment of German soldiers was ordered to fire upon the sus- 
pended bodies until they were literally blown to pieces, so it is 
not surprising to me to see the same monstrous policy developed 
in Belgium, where the methods seem to be naught but to terrorize 
and to exterminate. . , . 

How long, oh Lord, how long, will America stand by and see 
these crimes committed without a protest, so vigorous as to com- 
pel their cessation. As a veteran or observer, I have been in 
nine wars, in almost every section of the civilized and uncivilized 
world, from the Moros of the Philippines to the jungles of Africa 
but it has been reserved for this war to furnish cruelties and 
barbarities which surpass anything I have witnessed elsewhere, 
and prove that civilization is a failure, unless the nations who 
are free from the direct sufferings of the war, will protest with 
sufficient vigor to compel some regard for international law and 
for the salvation of humanity. 

On August 28, 1914, when the recrudescence of barbarism, 
now devastating Europe, had shocked the civilized world, I sent 
the following cablegram from Antwerp to President Wilson. It 
had the endorsement of the Belgian Military authorities, and every 
word in it has since been verified by Viscount Bryce, in his report 
to Parliament. It is as follows : 



"Antwerp, August 28, 1914. 



"My dear Mr. President: 

"Unless the barbarism of the German Kaiser ceases, the civ- 
ilization of Europe will be set back a century. The rules of The 
Hague Tribunal have been grossly ignored. Innocent women and 
children have been bayoneted. Old men and non-combatants have 
been shot. The white flag and red cross ambulances have been 
fired upon. A Belgian Red Cross officer was shot while assisting 
at the burial of a dead German. Villages of non-combatants have 
been burned and historic monuments desecrated. Churches have 
been sacked and hostages murdered. This morning, bombs 
dropped from a Zeppelin in an attempt to assassinate the royal 
family, killed eleven citizens and desperately wounded many more. 
This is not war, but murder. As Vice-President of the Peace 
and Arbitration League of the United States, I implore you in 
the name of humanity and justice, to back American protest so 
vigorously that German vandalism must cease, and the future 
disarmament of Europe made possible. 

Respectfully yours, 

Louis L. Seaman. 



Mr. Wilson at that time had every opportunity to prove the 
truth of my report, but it was disregarded, and he failed to pro- 
test against the greatest crime of history— the monstrous infringe- 
ment on International Law, and the fundamental rights of human- 
ity. Had he then protested in the name of The Hague Tribunal, 
and civilization — and made immediate preparations to enforce 
his protest, his name would have gone down to history coupled 
with that of Washington and Lincoln. Instead, it is more likely to 
be coupled with that of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. There would 
have been no Lusitania and Arabic murders to commemorate, 
and no Belgian deportations to shock the world, and America would 
have maintained the ideals, for which, your forbears and mine 
since the days of Magna Charta, were not too proud to fight. 

Some day the murderous cataclysm now raging in Europe 
will cease, and what will be the conditions existing then? It will 
find most of the Continental Nations hopelessly wrecked finan- 
cially, and saddled with debts, many of which will never be liqui- 
dated. It will find America prosperous and in possession of wealth 
beyond the dreams of avarice, but without a friend in the world. 
It will find Europe, jealous of our prosperity and envious of our 
riches. Prosperity without protection is a peril. Envy and jeal- 
ousy are the most fruitful causes of war. Unless we are prepared 
to resist unjust demands, war will undoubtedly follow. Congress 
and the President have already wasted most valuable time in 
failing to make adequate preparation for the preservation of our 
Peace. Unless this is done, and done immediately, our country will 
certainly receive the treatment it will deserve — vivisection, with but 
little sympathy for the patient under the scalpel. You may remem- 
ber Bismarck's significant reply when asked what he thought of 
America. " America," said he, "is a fine fat hog; and when we're 
ready, we will stick it." 

While in the hospital at La Panne with Surgeon General de 
Page, a few weeks ago, I was invited to a private audience with 
H. M. Queen Elizabeth, Belgium's noble queen. She spoke in keen- 
est praise of America's generosity to her people, who, but for this 
wonderful assistance, would have perished from the earth, — and 
of the deep obligation of her suffering country to our land. She 
is a rare jewel without the setting, proving the royal character 
without its pageantry, a fitting mate for the king who will pass 
into history as the greatest hero of this monstrous war. She is 
living by the sea, in a villa near the hospitals which she visits al- 
most daily in her work of devotion, and her soul is wrapped in the 
welfare of her suffering people and her desire to help them. 

One Sunday evening, we dined with Madame Henri Carton 
De Wiart, wife of the Belgian Minister of Justice, in an ancient 
castle near Havre, given to her by the French. It was in strange 
contrast to the prison for criminals in Berlin, where for three 
months she was incarcerated in a cell but little larger than her 
dining table, for mailing a copy of the pastoral letter of Cardi- 
nal Mercier, who is now himself, a victim of German tyranny. 
When asked by the tribunal which convicted her, whether she 
had sent the letter, she answered, "Yes, and I am ready to pay the 
penalty." Our Embassy, and that of Spain intervened on her be- 
half, but when our Ambassador, called to see her, the interview 



was allowed only in the presence of a German Officer. When asked 
regarding- her food, she said "I had not known these dishes before, 
but I know them now." The following day the German Officer 
visited her again, and said "Madam, you will be allowed the privi- 
lege of purchasing your own food." She answered, "For a privi- 
lege one must say thank you. I cannot say thank you to a German. 
You say I may pay for my food. That money would go to a Ger- 
man. I would rather starve than have my money go to a German." 
She endured her imprisonment to the end, thus typifying again the 
spirit of Belgium, which neither shell nor torture can conquer. 

On the sea shore, near the hospital, at La Panne, stands a rude 
little chapel, recently erected. It is known as the Relic Church, 
and its pulpit, its font, and its altar, were rescued from the wreck- 
age of Nieuport and Ypres, and the ruined churches of Belgium. 
Many sacred pictures of rare beauty and age are there, and ancient 
Crucifixes, marred and scarred by the enemies' shells. In strange 
contrast, in one corner was piled a heap of brown stone cannon 
balls, that had been unearthed by the soldiers while digging the 
trenches near Nieuport and which had been used in the Battle of 
the Dunes, centuries before. For more than a thousand years, 
Belgium has been the cockpit of Europe, but the spirit of its people 
is still unconquered. 

From La Panne, we visited Havre, the present seat of the Bel- 
gian Government where we met several of the Ministers of State 
and were told of the work already inaugurated for the restoration 
of the Belgian People, and of the Colonies of Orphans in various 
centers in France where they are being carefully educated. On 
a hill overlooking the City, Le Comte de Renesse Breidack has 
built an Institution that reflects the spirit of Belgium better than 
words can picture. Here, the human wreckage of the Army is 
being made over, into self-supporting, self-respecting wage earners 
in various trades, in an atmosphere of self-content and happiness. 
Shops for various industries are filled with legless shoemakers 
and tailors, and printers, who are now earning a fair competence. 
Basket and barrel making, metal-lathe workers, cooks and bakers, 
and toy makers are here, and many peaceful arts are being taught 
to artisans who are lame and blind, but whose indomitable wills 
are conquering their cruel fate. The spirit of the Count, who from 
wealth and power, was driven to poverty, is bringing inspiration 
through his personality, to thousands of men — from the depths 
of despair to contentment and self-support. 

When in London, we visited St. Dunstan's, memorialized by 
Thackeray in Vanity Fair, but now a Home for the blinded soldiers 
and sailors of Great Britain, of which Sir Arthur Pierson, who is 
also blind, is the Chairman. 

"This place," said he, "is the happiest house in London, prob- 
ably in the world, and I'll tell you why : It is so full of sympathy." 

The institution typifies the moral tone and spirit of all the 
Allies today — it is the spirit of hope, of life, of victory. "It is the 
spirit of our ancestors, of '76, the spirit of confidence, of success, 
of the irresistible determination to rescue freedom and civilization 
from this terrible tragedy — the spirit of Lincoln at Gettysburg 
when he prophesied for our country a government of the people 
by the people, for the people, which shall not perish from the 
face of the earth." 



6 



gression of the Hun will not cmUa «+ nil P, red atory ag- 

{S«af * n m the end of this piratical conflict in which the 

ideals of liberty and freedom and honor, for which mv lnce,to« 
fought and died are at stake, I am heart and soul wiKe AJl?i 
The traditional friendship between the Allied 3 aJ^- 
strengthened by the destruction of scraps of papfr fSmeri^dS 
treaties, would have been only a memory, had not thf grLtwt 
Relief societies of our country kept it alive; and it is to them and 
to our surgeons and hospitals and nurses, our splendid Ambu- 
lance corps and brave avions, and not to the weak-kneed vacOlat 

™ inSV/rf f Wa ^ Kn * P ° liCy ° f ° Ur Present admim^tiX&i 
we are indebted for the preservation what remains of the friendship 

SL^V^WS* 8 * bGtween our countries today 
King Albert through M. Henri Carton de Wiart, his Minister 
of Justice and M. Louis de Sadeleer, his Minister of State, now in 
New York, asks America, in this crucial moment, to compel a 
regard for international law by Germany, and thus prevent the 
lurther deportation and enslavement of his people. Is this hu- 
mane and righteous request of Belgium's King to be heard, and 
Germany be made to respect the laws of honor and civilization 
regarded as sacred by all other nations :— or is the world to re- 
lapse to barbarism and the savagery of the Dark Ages? That is 
the question America, which too long has been morally asleen i« 
now expected to help to answer. 



The following resolution was prepared and read by the 
Rev. John A. Wade, Rector, and at the conclusion 
of the service, was passed by unanimous vote. 



Hon. Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, Washing- 
ton, D. C. 

Sir : We, citizens of the United States, have followed for two 
years with profound sympathy, at times mingled with horror the 
story of the people of our sister nation, Belgium. 

While German armies have flouted the laws of God and man 
to an extent unparalleled in modern history, we have remained 
governmentally neutral. That neutrality, however, is not to be 
considered as the heart sentiment of the people of the United 



7 



States. Wave after wave of burning indignation has passed over 
our land, and we doubt not that the same sentiment would imbue 
the hearts of the great mass of the German people if they knew the 
truth. 

We can no longer restrain our i^ipation at the Impen^ 
order for the compulsory deportation of the ^P 1 ® °^ V B ^ U ™ 5™ 
Northern France, an act so brutal as to be unworthy of a nation 
calling itself civilized, and as a people happy m the feWW of 
Political freedom we register our most solemn protest against this 
crime ^and we™ereby extend our heartfelt sympathy and moral 
support to our outraged fellow-men. 

We think we express the sentiment of the great mass of the 
American People in stating that to further turn a deaf ear to the 
fry of Belgfum would stultify the noblest emotions of which our 
people are capable, weaken our moral fibre, and compel us to wear 
indelibly as a nation the brand of shame. 

This is a time for a moral bludgeon, and we respectfully im- 
plore the President of the United States to voice the nation s soul 
Fn term which the German Emperor will not fail to understand 

It is our earnest hope that similar action will be taken in the 
near future by every church throughout the land. 

Rev. John A. Wade, Rector, 

Church of St. John the Evangelist, Protestant Episcopal. 

New York, December 10th, 1916. 



& 



